I. Field
The present invention relates generally to data communication, and more specifically to techniques for dynamically configuring Internet Protocol (IP) for a terminal equipment attached to a wireless device.
II. Background
IP is a protocol that supports transmission of blocks of data, called datagrams, from source hosts to destination hosts in a packet-switched data network. In IP terminology, a “node” is a device that implements IP, a “host” is a node that terminates IP packets explicitly addressed to itself, and a “router” is a host that also forwards IP packets not explicitly addressed to itself. The source and destination hosts are identified by fixed length IP addresses.
In a local area network (LAN), a terminal equipment (e.g., a computer) typically interacts with a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server to obtain IP configuration needed to communicate with other hosts via IP. Such IP configuration may include, for example, an IP address for the terminal equipment, an IP address of a router to which the terminal equipment may send IP packets for forwarding to other hosts, and so on. The procedure for obtaining IP configuration is described in a document RFC 2131, entitled “Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol,” which is publicly available.
A terminal equipment may be attached or coupled to a wireless device (e.g., a cellular phone) to obtain IP connectivity via a wireless network (e.g., a cellular communication network). As used herein, IP connectivity refers to the ability to transmit and receive IP packets. The wireless network may support IP packet transmission but may not directly support DHCP, which is often the case for many wireless networks currently deployed. In this case, the terminal equipment would not be able to communicate with a DHCP server in the wireless network to obtain configuration information needed for IP.
There is therefore a need in the art for techniques to support dynamic configuration of IP for a terminal equipment coupled to a wireless device that is in communication with a wireless network, which does not directly support DHCP.